


the art of living lies and a fine mingling of letting go

by blueh



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Fluff and Humor, Gen, Identity Reveal, Social Media, Twitter, World Identity Reveal - Freeform, post identity reveal, this is almost a crack fic but not
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-10
Updated: 2019-02-10
Packaged: 2019-10-25 22:37:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17733968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blueh/pseuds/blueh
Summary: “Ms. Bustier,” Marinette says a little desperately, “I have been fighting akumas nonstop for the past twenty four hours, I’m running on seven expresso shots right now and I can barely read the words on the board. Can wepleasereschedule the test?”Adrien doesn’t look up from where his head is buried in his arms but he waves a hand and says, “Agreed.”Or: the world knows their identities, but life goes on.





	the art of living lies and a fine mingling of letting go

When the identities of Ladybug and Chat Noir, the superheroes of Paris, were first revealed, the entire world was sent into a state of chaos.

The fact that two people—two kids, _teenagers!—_ were capable of continuously taking down supervillain after super villain and possibly risking their lives in the process caused a public outcry. People wanted to know what, when, why, how. They wanted to know all the little intricate details that made up the lives of two kids. Ladybug and Chat Noir desperately tried to soothe the masses, promising the safety of both Paris and themselves. It was a hard adjustment for both of them, being sent into the scrutinizing spotlight of the world, but they worked it out little by little. Their reveal had been jarring and shocking and _terrifying_ , but they were a team. Anything they did, they would do together.

It took months and _months_ of work. Press conferences, private and public interviews, meeting with politicians. It was time consuming and often left them exhausted, but eventually the story fizzled out and died, fading to the back of the masses' minds. Paris still had to be saved by _someone_. Supervillains didn’t stop, after all.

The world continues to turn, homework still needs to be completed, time continues to pass by and, in the words of thousands of others, _life goes on_.

 

* * *

 

 

**Ladybug** @m-iraculousladybug · 34m

> Sorry about the mess! The #akuma on Rue des Rosiers has been taken care of! #staysafe

**Marina** @ladybugfan · 2m

> Replying to @m-iraculousladybug
> 
>   i would die for u

**Alya Césaire** @ladybloggin · 1m

> Replying to @m-iraculousladybug @ladybugfan
> 
>   rt if u would die for ladybug 
> 
> [ ·98,765 Retweets ·98,984 Likes]

* * *

 

“I don’t believe it,” Chloe declared one unsuspecting afternoon after spending the last hour glaring at Marinette’s back.

Alya is inclined to ignore her, but Chloe has been saying the _exact same thing_ for the past few months, ever since Marinette (Alya’s best friend, _holy_ _shit—_ ) was forcefully ousted as Ladybug. It's dumb and stupid and childish especially since the _entire class_ has  _seen_ Marinette transform into Ladybug and Adrien into Chat Noir, but Chloe has a reputation to maintain, Alya supposes, and someone as stubborn as _that_ wouldn’t cave in so easily.

 _Still,_ Alya thinks a little bitterly, _Chloe didn’t put nearly as much of a fuss when Adrien said he was Chat Noir._

Chloe plays favorites. _Shocker_.

“Come _on_ , Chloe,” Alix says from the back, signing in exasperation. “It’s been months now.”

“I don’t believe it,” Chloe repeats stubbornly, crossing her arms and looking away with a huff like the little baby she is. This, of course, starts an argument that has most of the class shouting at each other, engaged in a heated debate that didn’t even involve them.

Alya spots Marinette sinking lower in her chair, desperately trying to hide her face. Adrien gives her a worried glance from his seat in front of her. The action would have been cute had it not been for the fact that the entire class was arguing about the legitimacy of _her best friend_ and _ass-kicking super hero_. Enough is enough.

Alya shoots out of her chair, takes her textbook and slams it on the desk hard enough that the _boom_ echoed across the room. The class (including Chloe) immediately falls silent, turning to look at her with wide eyes.

“You don’t believe it?” Alya challenges, “I’ll prove it.”

Marinette stares at her with a look of horrified foreboding and has just enough time to say, “Alya, _don’t_ —" before Alya interrupts her, hands on her hips and grin in place as she shouts, as loud as she possibly can, “ _LADYBUGSAYSWHAT!_ ”

There’s silence.

That is, until Marinette, in the smallest voice says, “What?”

The look at Alya sends towards Chole has the confidence of a person who just delivered their thesis dissertation. Stuffing his entire fist in his mouth was all Nino could do to keep from laughing at the absolute _dumbfounded_ expression on Chloe’s face.

Chloe never mentions the subject again.

 

* * *

 

 **Ladybug** @m-iraculousladybug · 12m

>   change ur username @iloveladybug

**Adrien Agreste** @iloveladybug · 36s

> Replying to @m-iraculousladybug
> 
>    no #iloveladybug

 

* * *

 

Marinette is tired.

That in itself isn’t new, really, she hasn’t had a good night’s sleep since _The Reveal_ , as it was dubbed, and the amount of exams and homework just seemed to keep piling up until it was threatening to overwhelm her (akumas, of course, too. They never stopped). Thankfully, Adrien was by her side, the only one who truly understood what she was going through, but the support only did so much when midterms were around the corner.

So there she sat, full of nervous energy and expressos, eight am on a Wednesday morning, about to take an exam over material that she could only faintly recall from one or two fevered dreams.

Adrien turns to her and mouths, _I want to die_ , from his seat at the front. Marinette can only solemnly nod along. Alya watches them, rolls her eyes and tries to hide her laugh by turning it into the world’s most suspicious cough.

“You look like death,” Alya says.

“I feel like death,” Marinette says in return and buries her head into her arms to hopefully get a few nights worth of sleep in the two minutes before class started.

Unfortunately, Marinette was never one for luck and Ms. Bustier walks through the door not a moment later, arms full of tests. Each one looked heavier than a fifty pound weight and it takes all of Marinette’s self-restraint not to have a breakdown then and there.

“Alright, class,” Ms. Bustier says happily, “As you all know, we have a test today so clear your desks except for a pencil and scratch paper.  I’ll start handing out tests once I see everything is put away.”

Marinette only feels dread.

It might be the sleep deprivation or perhaps the ungodly amount of coffee that she’s managed to consume in the last hours but Marinette finds herself raising her hand. When Ms. Bustier calls on her, Marinette immediately says, “Can we please reschedule the test?”

It throws everyone for a loop. The idle chatter tapers off into complete silence as everyone eagerly awaits Ms. Bustier’s answer.

“I can’t do that,” Ms. Bustier says and her eyes look like they’re full of pity. There are groans from all around the classroom.

“Ms. Bustier,” Marinette says a little desperately, “I have been fighting akumas nonstop for the past twenty four hours, I’m running on seven expresso shots right now and I can barely read the words on the board. Can we _please_ reschedule the test?”

Adrien doesn’t look up from where his head is buried in his arms but he waves a hand and says, “Agreed.”

Perhaps Ms. Bustier sees the desperation in their eyes or watched the news last night as Ladybug and Chat Noir were reported swinging around Paris and cleansing akuma after akuma after Hawkmoth was feeling particularly vengeful. Maybe she took pity on a couple of overworked kids. Maybe she herself didn’t want to administer the test anyways. Whatever the reason, Ms. Bustier sighs, places the tests on the desk and says, “Just this once. I’ll reschedule the test until Friday. Since everyone has some extra days to study, I’m expecting higher grades. Is that alright?”

Being the superheroes of Paris sometimes has its perks.

 

* * *

  

 **Alya Césaire** @ladybloggin · 3d

>   tbh its still wild that my best friend can just out of windows like its nothing #ladybug

**N I N O** @djbubbler · 3d

> Replying to @ladybloggin
> 
>   yea dude tell me about it

 

* * *

 

There’s a small, black, floating creature right in front of Alya.

She and Nino came to school early to finish their homework before it was due. There wasn’t supposed to anyone in the classroom, yet here she was, sitting at her desk with Nino by her side, staring at the floating cat-insect thing in growing terror.  

It blinks its glowing green eyes and says, “Do you have any cheese?”

Alya screams. Nino takes his five hundred page textbook and swats the thing out of the air like a wasp and promptly smashes it on the desk. Nino and Alya share a panicked expression, neither willing to move.

“I’m gonna take that as a no,” the tiny black demon says, voice muffled from under the book. Nino can only watch in horror as the book disintegrates into ash and the tiny demon floats back to its original position, unharmed.

Alya is reaching for her phone to call Marinette (who happened to be an expert on all things weird) when Adrien bursts through the door, looking a little disheveled and desperate. He frantically searches the room from his position at the door before his eyes land on the tiny black demon and he signs in relief.

No questions. No confusion. No fear. Just relief.

“Plagg, there you are,” Adrien says and approaches their little table (complete with book ash). The tiny demon—Plagg—flies over to Adrien and sits on his shoulder like they were long lost pals. “I’ve been looking for you _everywhere_.”

“Why does no one in your school have cheese?” Plagg asks and happily takes the square cheese that Adrien pulls _from his pocket_. As if having a tiny demon friend wasn’t enough, he had to have random pockets full of cheese.

Alya was already writing a text message to Marinette.

“How many people have you solicited for cheese?” Adiren asks before shaking his head and signing. “Never mind, don’t answer. There’s an akuma on 18th arrondissement so we have to go.”

Plagg mournfully chews the last of his cheese.

“What the fuck,” Nino says, “is _that_?”

“Oh, him?” Adrien says, but he’s already heading for the window. There’s a sneaky grin on his face, reminiscent to that of Chat Noir. “This is Plagg. He’s a tiny god of destruction that loves cheese. Anyways, we are on a time crunch so _Plagg, claws out_!”

Neither Alya or Nino ended up finishing their homework on time.

 

* * *

 

 **Who Knows** @yabyblue · 2d

> real talk tho is ladybug a cat or a dog person

**Ladybug** @m-iraculousladybug · 12m

> Replying to @yabyblue
> 
>   dog

**Adrien Agreste** @iloveladybug · 15s

> Replying to @m-iraculousladybug @yabyblue
> 
>   D:

 

* * *

 

Marinette is a nice person.

Adrien hasn’t known her for longer than two years, but bonds that are formed from kicking akuma ass together tend to be rather strong. He’s been working with her as her partner for longer than a year at this point and can confidently say that he knows just about every expression on her face.

Which is why he knows he should be worried when she turns to stare at Lila after Lila’s latest lie. A lie about— _you guessed it!—_ Ladybug.

Adrien, who knows Ladybug just as well as he knows Marinette, sat back and watched.

“Ladybug and I are best friends,” says Lila, who has just come back and probably been spending most of her time under a rock if she didn’t know that Ladybug and Marinette were the same person.

“That’s a lie, Lila,” Marinette says. From the look on her face, she’s trying so hard to be nice and Adrien loves that about her. She’s nice and kind and brave and smart and doesn’t take shit from people who lie and manipulate for a living.

(Adrien didn’t want to think about _reporters_ , but the thought was heavily implied.)

“I have pictures to prove it,” Lila says and proudly shows off several photoshopped selfies of the two of them.

Marinette pinches the bridge of her nose and turns to look at Adrien who can only laugh. Alya nearly spits out her soda trying to keep the inhumane noise she makes from being too loud. Nino pats Alya on the back sympathetically.

“That’s another _lie_ , Li—"

“—and how would _you_ know _I’m_ lying?” Lila says, scowl on her face and hands on her hips.

“Wow,” Marinette says. “I wonder how _I_ could possibly know that _you_ are lying about _Ladybug_.”

Marinette drops the conversation when Lila only digs herself into a deeper hole, opting just to walk away. Adrien gives her a thumbs up and she rolls her eyes fondly but takes a seat next to him anyways.

Good friends and good conversation were hard to come by, after all.

“You enjoyed that too much, Kitty,” Marinette says.

“What can I say?” Adrien teases back. “I can’t wait to see the expression on her face when she reads the news.”

“It can’t be better than Chloe’s reaction,” Marinette says.

“I don’t know, guys,” Alya chimes in. “If Lila hasn’t checked the news since the reveal, I doubt she’s gonna do it any time soon.”  

“Alya is right,” Nino says with a grin. “What do they say? Ignorance is bliss?”

 (Lila finds out not two days later when Ladybug rescues her from an akuma despite being a general asshole of a person and transforms into Marinette. Lila never shows her face at the school again. Whether that’s from shame or embarrassment, Adrien will never know.)

 

* * *

 

“Here’s some cheese, Plagg,” Marinette says one day after class and promptly takes out an entire bag of cheese and gives it to Plagg. The bag is three or four times his size and probably twice his weight, but Plagg snatches the bag from her hands looking like a kid in a candy shop.

Adrien tries not to sigh. Tikki laughs from her perch on Adrien’s shoulder.

“Wanna switch users?” Plagg asks Tikki who laughs with her entire body. “Marinette is nicer.”

“This is betrayal in its highest form, Plagg,” Adrien says.

“I don’t see _you_ giving me a wheel of Parmigiano-Reggiano, Adrien.”

 

* * *

 

  **Adrien Agreste** @iloveladybug · 5h

> good morning everyone i was late to school today because i saw a cat and stopped to pet it

 

* * *

 

There’s a microphone in Marinette’s face.

“Ladybug! Ladybug! Just a second, please, I just have a few questions for you—”

It’s not a very unusual circumstance, but it’s annoying and time consuming nonetheless. She’s already late to class, her backpack was at least ten pounds heavier than it should have been and there was an akuma not an hour ago. She tries her best to hide her feelings and put on a smile, but the act is much harder than usual.

“What are you future plans?” the reporter demands.

 Marinette looks at the reporter. There’s a pen and paper in her hands, a camera on her partner’s shoulder. They both look at her expectantly, waiting for her to answer.

It’s an open ended question. Open ended questions got open ended answers.

The reporter probably means it in a way of superheroes—how long would she stay as Ladybug? Would she continue to be partners with Chat Noir? What happened if one of them was injured on the job? Would she pass her powers on to anyone else?

The types of questions that she’s answered hundreds of times already. The types of questions that she’s so, _so_ tired of saying over and over again.

So if this reporter wanted to know what she planned to do in the future then fine, Marinette would give her an answer.

She looks the reporter in the eye and teller her, step by step, just how she was going to graduate high school, get her degree, start her business and become the best designer in all of Paris.  

 

* * *

 

  **Alya Césaire** @ladybloggin · 1d

> [VIDEO] #Ladybug has another amazing night! two #akuma cleaned, caught on #video

**N I N O** @djbubbler · 56m

> Replying to  @ladybloggin
> 
>   one day ur gonna die i think

 

* * *

 

 “I’m a god,” Plagg says with the righteous assertiveness of someone who was only a few centimeters tall, looking like a mixture between a cat and a wasp, but happened to be the immortal god of destruction. “Bow before me.”

Nino is halfway there before Adrien grabs the back of his shirt and yanks him back up.

 

* * *

 

 “Adrien,” Marinette, with an amount of exasperation that comes from only someone who has heard thousands of cat puns, says, “You’re banned from making cat puns unless you’re in your fursuit.”

“It’s not a fursuit,” Adrien says, offended, before he offers a sly grin, “ _Pur_ haps—"

“ _Banned,_ Adrien.”

 

* * *

 

 **Ladybug** @m-iraculousladybug · 2h

> hey if the akumas could like, stop, for the next twenty four hours while i try and do my physics homework that would be great

**Adrien Agreste** @iloveladybug · 1h

> Replying to @m-iraculousladybug
> 
>    if its physics u need then im schrödinger's cat 

 

* * *

 

Classes usually passed in a blur for Adrien.

Tikki and Plagg were more comfortable around humans, opting to lounge around the desk instead of hiding in hats or shirts or purses or anything else Kwami sized. Typically, they stayed quiet and out of the way. Tikki loved listening, Plagg not so much.

Tikki is a diligent note taker. Plagg is a diligent sleeper.

Which is why Adrien worries a bit when he spots both Kwami alert and paying attention to the current lesson—something about the history of Ancient Greece. The longer the lesson goes on, the longer Plagg seems to be keeping his mouth shut even though he desperately wanted to say something.

Finally, the glass breaks when Ms. Bustier starts speaking about the destruction of a temple and Plagg bursts out, “ _That’s not how it went_!”

The class stops and stares at the tiny little black god, unsure of what to do. Adrien buries his head in his hands and contemplates if going to sleep would save him the embarrassment of having his tiny god friend telling his _history_ teacher that she was wrong while teaching _history._

“I was there,” Plagg says.

“He caused it,” Tikki adds helpfully.

“Yeah,” Plagg nods. “I caused it. Greece was a fun time.”

Ms. Bustier stares at the little black god with all of the exasperation as someone who has been teaching two superheroes and says, “Are you even enrolled in this school?”

 

* * *

 

Being the superheroes of Paris was a full time job. Being middle school students was also a full time job.

Sometimes it runs them ragged, sometimes they feel so exhausted that they could barely move their feet in the morning when it was time for school, but they had their friends helping them back up and their partner to stand by their side. The two of them pushed forward, slowly, steadily and never once faltering.

The world continues to turn, exams need to be studied for, time continues to pass by and, in the words of thousands of others, _life goes on_.

**Author's Note:**

> no hawkmoth is adrien's dad bc that’s angst and this is not an angst fic dkjshfd
> 
> this is SO DIFFERENT from what i usually write, different fandom too, but wow it was fun!! its been sitting in my folder unfinished for MONTHS
> 
> edit 10/3/19: i fixed coding this so now this fic has :) color :)


End file.
